The Institute has confirmed that in early April, Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) records for 26 international students were terminated, revoking their F-1 student visas and possibly stripping them of their legal status. The Department of State’s grounds for terminating the Jacket’s SEVIS records is different from case to case, a trend among the over 1000 international students whose visas have been revoked across the U.S. Some Georgia students are already taking legal action against the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement to reinstate their records.
“There is no single, unifying factor among the affected students,” said Institute VP of Communications Abbigail Tumpey. “We do not know the reasons the SEVIS records were terminated. The brief text in the system is very general and not indicative of any individual’s actions, or lack of actions, that are the source of the terminations. Each case is unique, and we are treating them accordingly. We know that this issue is causing much anxiety among our international students, and the Office of International Education (OIE) is working to provide direct support to our students. Each affected student has been personally contacted. We are providing individualized, confidential support, within the bounds of the law.”
According to the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees SEVIS, the termination of students’ records does not necessarily mean that their legal status or visa has been revoked. However, SEVIS houses all international students’ legal documents and shares their status with schools and employers. A student’s SEVIS records are the only way schools and employers can verify the legal status of a foreign student. Due to this, Tech is legally required to terminate any on-campus employment these students retained with the Institute. However, the Technique has confirmed that they are still permitted to continue taking classes while they contest the termination.
One affected student who wishes to remain anonymous shared his story with the Technique.
“On April 3, around 11 p.m., I received an e-mail that said, ‘We regret to inform you that your SEVIS record has been terminated.’ The reasons mentioned were ‘otherwise failing to maintain status,’ and ‘student identified in criminal records check.’”
A criminal conviction can be grounds for a foreign national’s removal. In this student’s case, however, their identification in a criminal records check referred to promptly dismissed criminal charges. After joining an online forum for over 700 others in a similar situation, they noticed some trends among students with terminated SEVIS records.
“Students are not required to declare [their reason for termination] to Tech, but we noticed that SEVIS is being terminated for two reasons. If you participate in protests, they’re terminating your service and … flagging you for potential terrorist activity. The other option is if [your name appeared in arrest records], your SEVIS is being terminated. … All of us [international students] are afraid to speak out,” the student said.
The student plans to pursue legal action to reinstate their SEVIS records, and some affected Jackets have already sought out this option. According to a press conference held after their initial hearing, Atlanta immigration firm Kuck Baxter filed a class action suit on behalf of several Georgia college students against U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristy Noem and acting director of ICE Todd Lyons.
“What will happen after today, I don’t know. … We will ask the judge to permanently order the government to restore all of our clients, all 133 of them, to valid student status in the United States — to allow them to resume working, allow them to resume their lives, allow them to graduate,” attorney Charles Kuck said in the press conference.
According to ACLU-Georgia, who also brought the lawsuit, Judge Victoria M. Calvert in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia’s Atlanta Division enacted the temporary restraining order after hearing the case. It ordered the Trump administration to reinstate all of the clients’ SEVIS records by 5 p.m. on Thursday, April 22.
Tech encourages students whose SEVIS records have been terminated to seek information and assistance through OIE. Their contact information can be found at isss.oie.gatech.edu.